“Selecting Anomia Treatment Probes: Theoretical and Functional Motivations for Stimulus Selection”
Dr. Nichol Castro, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences, University at Buffalo
Friday, September 16, 2022, 9:00-10:30 am, in 127 Moore and via Zoom
Anomia, or word retrieval difficulty, is a hallmark feature of aphasia. There are a variety of behavioral treatment options available to improve word retrieval abilities in people with aphasia. While these treatments are shown to be efficacious, there remains limitations in the generalization of treatment to untrained words. That is, persons with aphasia often show marked and long-term improvement in retrieval of words focused on during treatment, but there is little to no change in retrieval of words untrained. This talk will focus on one area in which anomia treatment outcomes may be improved – by attending to how anomia treatment probes are selected. Theoretical motivation for probe selection will center on the complexity of word-word similarity relationships and an underlying mechanism of spreading activation, with a specific example from a phonological-based anomia treatment. The talk will then consider the role of functional motivations for probe selection, ending with a speculative discussion into reconciling theoretical and functional motivations in decision-making processes.